Posts filed under ‘On the Grill’

Let’s face it…with high unemployment, tensions abroad, expanding Federal debt, and lingering recession, 2009 wasn’t the greatest of years. All the more reason to usher it out on New Year’s Eve with style, retro style that is. What better way to bring in the new than to celebrate the old. Dress up your party buffet table with these classic, and yes kitschy, holiday favorites.

Cheese Fondue

3/4 lb. natural Swiss cheese (about 3 cups)

1 Tbs. enriched flour

1 clove garlic, halved

1 1/4 cups sauterne

dash of freshly ground pepper

dash of nutmeg

3 Tbs. cooking sherry

French bread, cut into bite sized pieces

Toss cheese with the flour to coat. Rub the inside of the fondue cooker with the garlic. Pour in sauterne, warm just until bubbles start to rise (don’t cover or boil). Stirring constantly, melt the cheese a handful at a time. After cheese is melted, add seasonings and cooking sherry. Add a small amount of warmed sauterne if the fondue becomes too thick during. Makes 5-6 servings.

Hot Black Eyed Pea Dip

1/2 bell pepper, 2 stalks celery, and 1 onion, chopped fine

1 tsp. black pepper

2 Tbsp. Tabasco sauce (or to taste)

1/2 cup catsup

1 Tbsp. salt

3 chicken bouillon cubes

1/4 tsp. nutmeg and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

2 – 15 oz. cans black eyed peas (one must have jalapeno)

1 can tomatoes with green chilies (Rotel)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp. brown sugar

1/2 cup bacon drippings

3 Tbsp. flour

Lightly saute the bell pepper, celery, and onion. Add black pepper, Tabasco, catsup, salt, bouillon cubes, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Over low heat cook and stir until it reaches a boil and the cubes have dissolved. Add peas, tomatoes, garlic, and sugar. Simmer for 30 minutes. Combine bacon drippings with flour and stir into peas. Cook 10 minutes more until thickened. Stir well and serve in a warm crock pot along with tortilla chips.

Cheese Sputnik

1 large grapefruit

American cheese, cubed

Swiss cheese, cubed

ham, cubed

smokey links

spam, cubed

pineapple, cubed

fresh grapes

Trim the bottom of the grapefruit flat and set it on a serving dish. Using toothpicks, spear the cheeses, meats, and fruit then stick the toothpicks into the grapefruit. Arrange evenly to create a “satellite” look. The combination of ingredients served is up to you…be creative. You can even wrap the grapefruit in aluminum foil for an authentic sputnik look!

Sometime around a million years ago, Homo Erectus figured out that his discovery of fire could be used to cook meat. Besides the increased survivability cooking offered in terms of disease reduction, the softer food could be chewed by even the weakest members of the tribe. It was simple. Just skewer the day’s kill onto a stick, roast, and eat. We can only speculate that early man also had the faculty to appreciate the flavor that only fire can impart. Fast forward about a million years into the future (minus about 50 or so) and we arrive at a time when this iconic technique is identified with a society that reached the pinnacle of outdoor cooking…the Patio Culture. Mid-Century grill men took what was primarily a Mediterranean cooking technique and brought it into the American mainstream. As stated before, the simplicity was undeniable. This, however, gave the chef little opportunity to express his individuality. To get around this, outdoor chefs discovered they could create marinades to alter the flavor of the meat and add various vegetables to make an otherwise mundane dish spectacular in both taste and presentation. The following is intended to be a generalized overview to guide you through the sheer diversity of kebab variations.

Use the right tools for the job!

To begin your foray into the world of kebab grilling you’ll first need decent skewers. As traditional Middle Eastern grill men know, the flat sword type skewers are preferable as they keep the meat and vegetables from spinning around on the skewer. They should be long enough so that the handles can remain a somewhat safe distance from the heat source. Bamboo skewers are good for smaller individual servings, but be sure to soak them for 30 minutes prior to putting them on the grill. As always, a bed of glowing coals (charcoal or otherwise) rather than a blazing fire is the cooking environment you’ll need.

Marinade it!
Unless you have access to some prime beef such as Kobe, you’ll probably need to marinate the meat. This is especially true if you’re using typical cuts of stew meat, a popular choice for American style kebabs. The simple chemistry of a decent marinade is one part acid (lemon, lime, vinegar, etc.) to about two parts oil…similar to a vinaigrette. To the marinade base you can add just about anything. Common ingredients include, but are not limited to, chopped onions, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, even honey (use care with sweet ingredients as they can easily burn on the grill). Time is the next factor. Marinade the meat for at least 4 hours with overnight being even better.

Cindy’s Kebab Marinade

1/2 cup canola oil

juice from 20 oz. can of chunk pineapple (use pineapple for skewers)

juice from one lime

1/2 cup prepared teriyaki marinade

3 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. brown sugar

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper

Mix all ingredients together and marinate meat overnight.

Add the works!

When the meat has had time to properly marinate, pat dry and begin threading onto a skewer. Here’s where I differ from traditional kebab techniques. I prefer to have skewers with only meat, and separate skewers devoted to the vegetables. The simple truth of this is because it takes longer for the meat to cook than the vegetables. If you want to go with the more traditional approach, alternate meat and vegetables, but watch them closely to make sure they don’t get overcooked! The old standby veggies such as bell pepper, onion, mushroom, and cherry tomatoes are great, but don’t feel limited to those choices. Any vegetable that is somewhat firm can be used, as well as, fruits (pineapple being my favorite).

Smoked Mushrooms (for when they don’t all fit on the skewers!)

1 lb. whole mushrooms, cleaned and with trimmed stems

3 Tbs. fresh cilantro leaves, no stems

1/2 cup white wine

3 Tbs. butter

sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

In a metal pan (one you use for your smoker), melt the butter and mix with the wine. Add the mushrooms to coat well and top with salt, pepper, and cilantro. Simmer on the back of the smoker for about 45 minutes or until mushrooms are soft. Great side dish for any barbeque.Use a thematic approach!

These combinations of marinades, meats, fruits, and vegetables work best when they follow at least some semblance of a flavor theme. For instance, traditional (as stated above), Asian (soy sauce based marinade and fruits served with rice), Mediterranean (using lemon and olive oil marinades served with couscous), and Mexican (roasted meat for tacos al pastor, and grilled green onions on the side).

Roast and serve!

With your coals ready, load the skewers onto the grill and cook for about 10-15 minutes being sure to turn often. A little vegetable char on the mixed kebabs is OK but a light coating of cooking spray helps with this. Serve the entire mixed skewer for show, or de-skewer the meat and vegetables, combine, and serve over your choice of carbohydrate. Again, it’s up to you but rice pilaf or couscous are the most common.

With the high price of gasoline taking an ever bigger bite out of our summer entertainment budgets, one does not have to travel far from home to enjoy a classic retro outdoor grilling excursion.Bringing back an outdoor cooking technique from the mid-century Patio Culture, foil cookery is an easy and cheap way to appease the Gods of Grilling Past and have fun closer to home. The premise is ridiculously simple. Pack complete and portable meals inside foil cooking pouches, load them into a cooler, take them anywhere you can build a fire, eat them, and clean up with minimal fuss.

While the wonders of backyard cooking were well known to mid-century dads, I’m sure it was mid-century moms who first attempted to contain the resulting mess of charred meat remnants and grease with foil. Apparently successful, foil cookery soon became a common sight on patios all across America. Harkening back to my own Scouting days in the late 1960’s, this type of cookery was considered an intermediate step between regular camp cooking using pots and pans, and primitive cookery using sticks and coals. Leave it to the miracles of science and technology (and moms) to bridge the gap!

Be prepared!
To create a portable meal in a pouch you first need aluminum foil (duh). The next step, however, will vary depending upon what heat source you are planning to use.

1. Double wrap your meal in foil if you are going to be cooking directly on coals. This way you’ll get extra thermal protection from the higher heat. Remember, If you’re going to use an outdoor wood fire, be sure to let it burn down sufficiently to create a nice even bed of burning embers.

2. If you plan to put them on the grill several inches over the coals, you only need to wrap it once.

Traditional Foil Meal
For each traditional foil meal or “Scout Supper”, you’ll need the following ingredients:

1 thick hamburger patty seasoned to your taste (see note)

1 potato, peeled and sliced

1 onion, sliced

2-3 carrots, peeled and sliced

Salt and pepper to taste

Prepare the foil pouch per the instructions above. Spray the interior of the pouch (shiny side) with cooking spray. Layer the potatoes, carrots, seasoned meat patty, and onions in the center of the pouch. Season with salt and pepper then fold into a tightly sealed pouch (see illustration). Cook for about 15-20 minutes if you’re cooking directly over coals, or 30-45 minutes if you’re using the grate over your grill. Use your senses to help you determine when its done! When it’s ready, carefully take it off the fire, let cool for a minute, then cut open to form a foil “plate”. Be careful of the steam when you open these, and I suggest you put the foil on a real plate lest you have molten food introducing itself to your crotch!

The hybrid meal shown above is an example of the diversity of this type of cookery. Note the squash and bell pepper along with the traditional beef patty, onion, and potatoes.

Note: Steamed meat inherently lacks the flavor that only direct fire can impart, therefore it’s my opinion that you need to add something to help out the meat. Almost anything will do, but I suggest steak sauce, or dried soup mixes worked thoroughly into the meat.

Non-Traditional Foil Meal
The preparation for this recipe is the same as above, except the sky is the limit! Almost any combination of meats and vegetables can be used to create a foil meal. Squash, bell pepper, sweet potato, ham, pineapple, you name it…It’s up to you! I’ll use the following as an example of a non-traditional foil meal.
Chicken with Lemon and Rosemary in Foil

1 boneless skinless chicken breast

4-5 springs fresh rosemary (or 3-4 Tbs. of store bought)

about 1 cup of whole mushrooms

1/2 bell pepper cut into rings

3 thick slices of lemon

Prepare the foil pouch per the instructions above. Spray the interior of the pouch (shiny side) with cooking spray. Layer the fresh rosemary, chicken breast, mushrooms, bell pepper, and lemon in the pouch. Season with salt and pepper and fold to make a tightly sealed pouch. Cook for about 15-20 minutes if you’re cooking directly over coals, or 30-45 minutes if you’re using the grate over your grill. Remove and serve. Note that fresh rosemary tends to pack more of a wallop than its dried store bought cousins, so use accordingly.

Don’t forget dessert!
For an extra treat give your foil a quick dose of cooking spray and wrap up firm, fresh apples and bake over the coals for about 30 minutes. Bananas are good too and only take about 10 minutes. Once you’re an experienced foil chef you can try the ultimate tiki dessert…a whole pineapple!

Before Leaving

If your foil cooking adventure took you into the great outdoors, be sure to thoroughly douse your fire (I mean cold to the touch), and pack out your trash. Remember your aluminum foil (and “beverage” cans) are recyclable! You might could even recoup some of your gas expenses depending on your drinking habits!

While perusing my beloved 1956 Better Homes and Gardens Barbeque Book, I came across an overlooked recipe that might be of interest to the retro grilling enthusiast…Puppet Franks with Catsupdip (one word). That’s right, weenies on a string. Modern and convenient!

How does it work? Simple. Using a metal skewer, string “short chubby-type wieners” together using heavy duty string making sure to tie a knot between each frank to ensure that they don’t all fall off. Perhaps a good candidate for this would be a new type of frank I have just seen that is about the size of a bratwurst. Slash the franks on both sides. Once 6-10 franks are strung together in this manner, double them over a wire coat hanger making sure to loop the strings twice over the hanger to secure. Once your strings of franks are on the hanger you can lay them onto the grill allowing the hanger to dangle over the side. When one side is done just the way to like them, pick up the hanger and flip the whole thing over onto the uncooked side. Grill until done then dip the franks thoroughly in Catsupdip. It is suggested that the host serve guests by carrying the dripping hanger around and snipping off individual franks with scissors. Nothing could be more dramatic at an outdoor gathering than to play the role of the consummate protein puppet master plying his ancient art for an eager audience. Serve extra Catsupdip as needed.

Catsupdip

1/4 cup salad oil

2 cups finely chopped onion

1-14 oz. bottle (1 1/4 cups) catsup

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 to 2 Tbs. vinegar

2 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce

1/2 to 1 tsp. dry mustard

1 tsp. salt

1 to 2 tsp. Liquid Smoke (the elixir of the Patio)

Combine all ingredients. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Makes 3 cups or enough sauce for dunking about 2 dozen wieners. Be careful and don’t hurt yourself with this one kids.

This summer I’ve decided to go off theme a little bit with my grilling style. Of course I’ll still be doing retro favorites like steaks, hamburgers, and barbeque (which is not grilling), but I’ll also be posting more Asian and Latin American specialties that I’ve gleaned from the web, as well as posting some of my own recipes.

For Father’s Day I whipped up a little Norteño/Salvadoran menu that goes great with the grill. No, I haven’t forsaken my beloved Tex-Mex! I still consider it the premiere cuisine of Texas on par with any the regional (interior) cuisines of Mexico and the Southwest. Tex-Mex had the unfortunate timing of going mainstream about the time the huge taco chains began to dominate the fast food industry, thus the bastardized corporate version became what most non-Texans regard as “Tex-Mex”. No so, but that’s another post!

Tacos with Pollo al Carbon

I consider this “interior” version of Pollo al Carbon to be Norteño (northern Mexican) since it’s grilled over coals in the traditional fashion. The vaqueros of the northern desert, however, would have undoubtedly have eaten the beef version of this! Don’t worry, chicken is an acceptable choice for we petroleum-deprived suburbanites.

Ingredients:

2 small chickens, cut in half down the middle

1/2 cup orange juice

1 small onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tomatillos, husks removed, chopped

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons lime juice

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon hot chili powder

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Saute onion, garlic and tomatillos in oil until soft. Add juices and spices. Simmer for about 10 minutes while stirring. Set aside and allow to cool. Place chickens in a large container or large resealable bags. Cover with sauce and refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours (I did it overnight). Preheat grill. Remove chicken halves from marinade and place on medium hot grill. Grill for about 30 minutes turning occasionally and basting with reserved sauce every 10 minutes. Do not baste in the last 10 minutes of grilling. Remove when done and serve with salsa and tortillas. I top the tacos with queso fresco and garnish with radishes, limes, and tomatoes.

Frijoles Charros (Cowboy Beans)

Bowl of charro beans when the author suddenly remembered to photograph it. Half eaten and unphotogenic, it was nonetheless delicious!

2 lbs. pinto beans washed, soaked in water overnight, and drained

2 medium white onions, peeled and chopped

8 large garlic cloves

2 tablespoons vegetable oil or lard

2 sprigs epazote

1/2 lb. bacon, diced (chorizo may also be used)

4 roma tomatoes, chopped

6 serrano chiles, chopped

salt to taste

Place the beans in a large pot with half the onion, half the garlic, oil and epazote. Add 2 quarts water, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until tender (35-45 minutes if done in a pressure cooker). Add salt to taste. In a large saucepan or clay casserole, cook the diced bacon until some of its fat is rendered, add the remaining onion and garlic, and saute until the onion softens. Add the tomato and chile, and continue cooking until the tomato releases its juice. Add the cooked beans with their liquid and cook over a low flame for 20-30 minutes, stirring from time to time. Taste for salt. Serves 12-15 (I make only half of this recipe).

Place everything but the salt in a large iron skillet (or nonstick frying pan) making sure that all items make contact with the metal. Turn on the heat and let the vegetables get burnt on the outside. Turn as needed to insure this…don’t worry it’s okay. Once the vegetables are nice and charred on the outside, remove them and deglaze the skillet with some water. Add the vegetables, salt, cilantro, and just enough of the deglazing water to keep the salsa thick and blend to a somewhat chunky consistency. You should end up with a rich, smokey, almost maroon colored salsa!

Curtido (spicy pickled cabbage salad)

1/2 head green cabbage, shredded

2 carrots, grated

1 white onion or 3 green onions, sliced thinly

1 cup cider vinegar or white vinegar

1/2 cup water

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

This dish form El Salvador is traditionally served with pupusas (filled tortillas). Some folks put it on fish tacos, so I thought it would go with my tacos as well. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours. Let the liquid drain from your portions as you serve them. Note that some recipes call for blanching the cabbage in boiling water for one minute before mixing. I’ll think I’ll do this next time since the marinade alone did not quite soften the cabbage as much as I would have liked. This is related to saurkraut and kimchee so it keeps for awhile.